Monday Night Raw: 25 years of mayhem

Yes, that dreaded first day of the week, which follows that stress-relieving (in most cases) weekend filled with friends, family and freedom…

Mondays certainly take a beating as far as weekdays go.

But if you’re a fan of professional wrestling, Mondays and beatings have meant only one thing for the past 25 years: Monday Night Raw.

From its first episode on Jan. 11, 1993, to the one on tap on Jan. 22, 2018, which will celebrate its 25 years, Monday Night Raw has been a mainstay in the Monday night TV lineup and in the lives of wrestling fans.

From the early days of Raw to the wildly popular Attitude Era right through today, many a wrestling fan was born, had their wrestling cravings satiated or screamed at their TV sets in disagreement, delight or dismay on Mondays.

World Wrestling Entertainment’s flagship program has certainly had its good times, down times and everything in between in two-and-a-half decades, but what stands today as a result of its presence is a global sports entertainment giant that is undeniably untouchable in the world of sports entertainment.

Such was not always the case, however. During the so-called Monday night war, when WWE and Ted Turner-owned World Championship Wrestling battled it out for rating and wrestling supremacy, WWE spent a couple of years as the underdog, appearing to be on the brink of defeat at the hands of WCW, which had introduced guaranteed contracts as a way to lure many of the biggest names in pro wrestling – names that had built WWE into world-renowned company.

And while the success of WWE cannot be measured in a single moment, but rather in the blood, sweat and tears of talent, the creative geniuses behind the scenes and a little luck, its avoidance of defeat at the hands of WCW can perhaps be pinpointed to a single moment, on a Monday night just over 19 years ago, when WCW, on its live broadcast made two mistakes, one creatively and the other mentioning that rival WWE was crowning an underdog as champ, sending its audience members over to watch WWE.

That underdog that night was none other than Mick Foley. Mankind, as he was known, didn’t possess the athletic physique often associated with pro wrestlers. His face hidden under a mask, his looks clearly weren’t his forte either. Heck, then head of talent relations Jim Ross had to plead with WWE owner Vince McMahon just to get Foley a shot in WWE to begin with. But what Foley lacked in physique and good looks, he made up for in talent, creativity, heart and soul.

That night, with an assist from WCW, Foley and the WWE took an important step toward overcoming the lopsides ratings war and began a comeback in ratings and popularity that would see them eventually purchase WCW and go on to become the global giant it is today.

Foley’s title win, over The Rock no less, is by far Foley’s proudest moment, and one he didn’t necessarily agree with at the time.

"I thought me as champion was a mistake,” Foley said during a conference call with international media to promote Raw’s 25th anniversary, which emanates from the Barclays Center in Brooklyn. “I didn’t think it was a good idea. I always felt the challenger should be chasing the champion and The Rock was a great champion,” Foley added.

Hindsight, as always, is 20/20.

“It turned out to be the best thing for everybody,” Foley said.

In those days, every other episode of Raw was taped. That particular episode happened to be one such taped episode, going head-to-head against a live WCW show at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta before 48,000 people.

“Nobody could have foreseen that at the end of the night, we’d be the ones celebrating the big victory,” Foley said.

Thinking back, Foley said, no one realized that night that what had transpired would prove to be so monumental in the grand scheme of things.

"It was not seen as a big moment at the time,” he said. “I mean, I saw it as a big moment for myself because I’d never even dreamed of being the WWE champion, that was too ridiculous.”

As Michael Cole uttered those famous words about Mrs. Foley’s baby boy, the vast majority of WCW’s TV audience was switching channels to witness a moment few thought possible.

“We all thought it had been a really good episode,” Foley remembered, “a really good moment and a very exciting conclusion to a good show, but we didn’t realize the force of the show until those ratings were revealed the next day."

In those days, WWE stars were well aware that the ratings war was serious business.

"We realized if we didn’t excel every week that eventually there might not be a tomorrow, but we were still doing solid ratings even when we were behind for 108 weeks in a row or whatever the case might have been. We all thought that for the last 70 of those weeks, random number, that we had the better show. We believed in it.”

Even now, with WWE the worldwide success that it has become, Foley downplays the role his win that night had in the big picture.

"I don’t know if I can take that much credit,” he said. “It was certainly a big moment, but when you work not only in the ring for WWE, but behind the scenes, you get a real appreciation for how many people it takes to make the product come to life every Monday night.”

Foley’s rise to eventual hall of famer came during the company’s most financially successful and mainstream era, the so-called Attitude era, an era that featured several major stars in the primes of their careers. Along with Foley, the likes of The Undertaker, Kane, Triple H, Shawn Michaels, The Rock, Stone Cold Steve Austin and many, many others.

Asked when or if he could point to a time when the talent in his generation knew they had tipped the balance in the war with WCW, Foley referenced a speech by WWE owner Vince McMahon in the fall of 1997, when McMahon ignited the Attitude Era by changing the direction of the company, which to that point had been PG.

“He said some of the things (WWE had) used in the past had become outdated and we were going to move ahead and prosper,” Foley said. WWE was rebranded from WWF after a long battle with the World Wildlife Fund. Abandoning its name proved a great opportunity to dramatically rebrand the company. It was a gamble that worked well beyond expectations.

McMahon said “it was going to rely on the creativity of the characters and that we should all feel free to experiment and we should all feel free to come forward with our idea. The commitment to character that was one of the things that made the company successful."

Indeed. On the strength of Foley, Austin, The Rock, Undertaker and others, WWE became a mainstream titan, particularly on Monday nights. To this day, WWE stars live under the shadow of that era, which featured much edgier content, characters and storylines.

For his part, however, Foley believes the current talent to be every bit as talented and popular as anyone during his era, perhaps moreso with the growth of WWE in other parts of the world.

"WWE has grown so much internationally. WWE superstars of today are right up there with the superstars of the Attitude Era,” Foley said. “It’s kind of tough to find another Rock or another Stone Cold Steve Austin, but John Cena comes to mind as someone who has transcended WWE and really become a big part of popular culture. I think that today’s roster of WWE superstars will be well represented in the hall of fame in years to come,” he added.

The rise of social media, which WWE embraced long before many other sports leagues or entertainment brands, has also created a new challenge for WWE, which has to answer to fans who have a more direct path to both praise and pan the company and its content.

That is not lost on WWE.

"To have this show that is going to deliver on some level, it’s going to sometimes frustrate us, sometimes make us feel overjoyed, but is always there for us, is something that I don’t think can be overstressed,” Foley said of the Monday night staple.

Much as it does with the Royal Rumble and WrestleMania, and occasionally on Raw, WWE will blend old with new at the 25th anniversary episode of Raw, which is bound to yield Attitude Era like ratings with the return of Stone Cold Steve Austin and who knows how many other stars from the past.

Foley paid tribute to WWE’s ability to perfectly balance its past and present for its fanbase, which ranges from young children to the elderly.

"WWE does a great job of constantly changing things up, of having a nice mixture of new superstars while paying tribute to the superstars of the past. I just think there’s really something special about a show that’s on every week with no offseason. It’s nice to know that there’s something out there., that no matter where someone’s life is headed, Monday Night Raw gives one a sense of normalcy, something they can always count on."